


Hoping for a Miracle, Perhaps?

by redbass_baby



Category: Kingdom Hearts
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-10
Updated: 2017-06-10
Packaged: 2018-11-12 11:02:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 6
Words: 7,501
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11160534
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/redbass_baby/pseuds/redbass_baby
Summary: He found me one day. He saw what I held within me, and I passed the test with flying colors. I don’t know what I was thinking. Why him? I lost sight of what was in front of me. I was looking into the eyes of Someone. What I didn’t see soon enough was everything was for lie in the light of 1 heart. One day, I woke up. I was hoping for a miracle, perhaps.





	1. He found me one day.

**Author's Note:**

> This is my portrayal of Canon Kingdom Hearts Characters. Constructive criticism is accepted.

_I thought I’d been safe so deep in that castle, my dwelling wrapping around the Chamber of Awakening without even knowing it at the time. I’d never seen the others, Marluxia, Larxene, Axel, Vexen, Lexaeus, or Zexion, come close to me, but I knew they knew I was there. Marluxia had to have seen me because It always felt like I had eyes on me._

An ice sorceress had holed up deep inside Castle Oblivion after traveling through portals created by Sora and his friends and ended up there by accident. She had no way out and felt a calling from the castle, thus she followed it. Arriving, she had a much different reaction than most, once she came to learn what the castle did to people. She grew to feel everything in the castle and see what was lurking about inside it’s walls. Her power grew stronger, but she was also cursed; well, she thought of it as such anyway.

At night, she was frozen in a cocoon of ice against a specific door in the castle. She never understood why it happened. “It’s never happened to me before. I surely don’t freeze things that much in my sleep.” She had told herself after the first few times she founded herself waking up to a thud on the floor.

Since then, she’d grown use to her situation and a selfishness had wormed it’s way into her heart. She wanted this castle for herself, she wanted to rule, to be queen. It festered a darkness in her heart as she desired power over the castle. However, going up against the Organization herself wasn’t an option. That would be a suicide mission and she was smart enough to work with them until they were done looking for what they wanted. She would wait like a savager and take all they left behind here.

However, that day didn’t come soon. Those that ruled the castle’s top floors and basements before her passed on long after she arrived, but only give way to the man who would find her and stop her in her tracks to domination and power.

He was wandering the rooms from the top down when she picked up on him. He was in a black cloak just like the others, but seemed a lot more experienced, at least the scar on his face made him appear wiser.  She had sent out her familiar, Vin, to watch him as she lurked in rooms adjacent from him silently. However, he saw the animal and toyed with her, putting on a play for her as if Vin was just a normal animal he was seeing, but his sarcastic tone told her otherwise. He knew she was there, most likely always had and was just waiting for her to come out. With the ermine, he had the perfect bait to use.

The man snatched the animal from the floor, making it squeal ever so softly. That was all that was needed for her to form a large, sharp stalagmite of ice before him, the point aimed right at his gut.

“Put Vin down, or I’ll impale you where you stand.” She threatened him as she walked out with the click of her ice blue heels from the room in front of him, death in her deep blue eyes even though she was dressed in a white dress with blue ombre sleeves and train decorated with ice blue embellishments along the low neck line and train.

“Well, the princess finally made her appearance.” He spoke in a happier tone than she would have liked as he leaned away from the spike before him. A grin was plastered on his face. “Don’t worry, I wasn’t going to hurt the little guy, just wanted to bring you out. It’s not polite to stalk a guest.” His hand released the ermine, which ran into her and vanished.

“Who are you?” She questioned while she shifted the point of the ice to his neck. She didn’t trust him one bit.

“Xigbar.” He remarked, “What about yours, Ice Doll?”

She was silent, faltering before him over being called Ice Doll. She thought it strange the man would call her that, but she also wasn’t use to that kind of speech. No one had ever called her a nickname before, but this one sounds so nice even it was coming from the mouth of an enemy. However, she made the decision to give her name. “Neme,” She spoke still not pulling out of her threat of impalement.

_That was all he had to say. Ice Doll. All he had to do was call me that and I was wrapped right around him, my heart falling to its fate in his hands. Even if I didn’t trust him at first, I can see now that he always had a grip on me, and he knew it. He’d planted a seed of darkness within my heart and was waiting to see what it bloomed into._


	2. He saw what I held within me, and I passed the test with flying colors.

_He’d been biding his time with me. I didn’t let him into the rooms I’d taken, but I was slowly extending out, creating a larger living space out of ice. Room after room became decorated with my own artistic touch. It was only a matter of time before he found them._

Xigbar had come back again and again, maybe once a week. He noticed a change in the castle. It was colder here. He knew he had to stop it before she extended to much farther out. The Organization still needed the castle. They still needed it to find that room. Before long, he was in a room decorated by ice and managed to sneak up on her. He assumed it was because she was working on creating a bouquet of intricate ice roses. He had to admit it was hard work to be able to do that with as stead of a hand and calmness as she was.

“Ice Doll!” He called to her as he held his arms out with a smile as if he was happy to see her even as he heard the crack of the ice she was working with. “You’ve made a nice place here for yourself. You’ve been busy since I was last here.” He walked around, looking around at the all the perfectly designed ice, glittering in the light of the room. Once he reached her glaring, pissed off being, he looked to her eyes and smiled wider, “But I’m going to have to stop you here.”

“No!” She retorted without hesitation and not holding back he anger at him for interrupting her. “The castle is mine, the others are gone.”

He chuckled at her, further fueling her anger. “No can do. You see, we still need this castle.” He explained. “You doing this,” He gestured around the room, “will be-“

His sentence was cut off as she suddenly cover her hand in ice claws, sharpened to a point and swung at him. She wasn’t going to just let him take all this from her, not him or the Organization. However, Xigbar was quick to dodge her with his space powers.

“Geez, you’re made of fire today.” He chuckled as he reappeared, arrow gun in hand. “That’s not very polite for a Queen!”

She retorted as she dropped stalactites around him and attempted to freeze him into place, but he moved and shot an arrow at her, nicking her arm. He wasn’t planning on harming her too much, but he’d definitely teach her a lesson or two about the Organization.

Neme hissed as he slid away from more stalactites, gun aimed at her. “Show me what you got, Ice Doll.” He spoke intrigued as he shot a few arrows around her head to push her further.  He knew what he was stepping into, but it was all part of a plan he was piecing together for her.

It did the trick too, because she chased after him in an instant, her clawed hand lashing out at him. The fight began, and soon became his game as they nearly trashed all the ice fixtures in the room, including every ice rose but one. She was huffing as she took notice any time she threw spikes at him or tried to catch and claw his face open, he was able to get away just in time. She was at a disadvantage and he was laughing at it.

“Can’t get me, Ice Doll?” He teased her. “Giving up already?”

She glared at him as she kept silent. She had an idea the only way she could make this work though was to be as fake as him.  She stood normally and withdrew her ice claw. “Fine, you win.” She spoke absolutely.

She received a tsk from him. “I thought you’d fight a little more for it. You’re no fun.” He commented as she stepped towards her, still holding his arrow guns in hand. He smiled despite the disappointment.

He took a step too close and it was done. Neme reached for his face, the ice forming as it moved. He saw this and instantly taped into his power to teleport away, but the last claw caught his cheek and nicked him just as he did to her. She laughed at him as he moved away from her resulting in an arrow in her direction, but she pulled up a sheet of ice as a shield. The arrow shattered it with one hit.

“Clever, Ice Doll.” She heard him say. A dark smile creeped onto her face as she held her hand out and pretended to grip a gun like him. Ice formed out of her palm as she mimicked his weapon and shoved a magazine of arrows into it. “Now I can get you.” She spoke and aimed for him. She fired one shot as he looked at her surprised, but interested. She was aiming to deepen the wound, but he was too far away for a solid shot before he moved away.

This time he appeared behind her, upside down with his gun pointed to her head. She froze. “You are good. With your magic abilities, you could be useful.” He spoke, “So, be a good girl and listen.” He swung down to the floor and closed in on her back, “You help and work with me for a while and I’ll talk to the boss about giving you this castle. Ok?” He spoke close to her ear. Neme felt a chill run up her spin at the sound of his voice. He noticed her open her mouth and protested, “I’d think about it were you, before you make any rash decisions, Neme. I wouldn’t want to cross us.”

It was a tempting deal.

“You could have all this to rule over as Queen.” He remarked as he watched her reaction, knowing he had her around his finger. She looked to the side at him and locked her jaw in place for a moment to hold in the blush trying to surface on her snow white skin with him this close to her.

She swallowed before she answered, “I’ll do it.” She spoke, bringing a smile to his lips.

“Good girl. I’ll be in contact, Ice Doll.” He spoke in a softer tone than before as his eye looked over her face.

_He left after that. I didn’t see him again for about two days. I fixed the room in the mean time. He became the object of my thoughts over and over. I kept hearing him talk to me. His voice alone was appealing to me more than I thought it would. Ice Doll, good girl, I couldn’t stop hearing him say that and look at me they way he did. The seed he’d planted was growing, drawing me towards him, right into his trap. It was just the matter of finding the right moment and leaving unscathed. I knew better, but he’d tempted me with the fruit of my own desires._


	3. I don’t know what I was thinking. Why him?

_He returned to me, this time appearing in the area’s that I’d taken. I hadn’t extended out, like he warned me not to, but he knew where I was now. The only thing I kept from him was my bedroom._

“Hey, Ice Doll. I’m home.” The man teased as he drew close and rested an arm across her shoulder. It was warm and took her off guard when she instantly enjoyed that warmth. “How’s my little poppet doing?” He hummed as he tilted his head at her. “Cat got your tongue?” He added when he noticed a slight falter in her demeanor.

She shook her head. “No!” She spoke and walked away from him, wanting so badly to resist him and stop her emotions from appealing to him.

He chuckled, “Good, I have a job for you. You’ll be coming with me for a little recon.” He explained, knowing full well, she was blushing on the inside. She was like an open book with him once he got under her skin. She was innocent and it was so cute in that way for a man with dark intentions!

He never expected the girl to take to him so quickly as she did. They didn’t know much about her in the first place from Marluxia. She’d been extremely reserved with them, almost reclusive. He’d gotten lucky with her. However, he didn’t know exactly what it was he’d done to her to cause this, but he had a feeling making contact with her properly aided in that. She couldn’t go anywhere now which only helped.

“We’re going to a place called Twilight Town. You’ll blend in a bit more than I will, so I want you to look into something for me, while I deal with my real mission.” He explained as he opened a portal to their destination. “There’s a mansion to the Northeast. I want you to go there and check in on girl named Naminé. Eavesdrop on her.” He defined her mission then gestured her through the portal first, “Ladies first, Princess.”

Neme agreed with a curt nod and walked through the portal, followed by him close behind her. He stopped her with his hands on her arms. “To get to the castle, go through there to the market place and look for a hole in the wall into the woods. The mansion is through there.” He told her while he pointed to the right of them. He was close to her as he was when he offered this deal. He noticed a pink tinge to her ear and smirked to himself before letting her go. “When I’m done with my mission, I’ll come find you. Stay out of sight until then.” He directed her before going off on his own.

Neme watched him with a feeling of anger mixed with longing for him that left her heart racing. Realizing this, she shook her head roughly. “Don’t think about that man like that.” She murmured to herself. “He’s a nobody and not worth your time, save to obtain Castle Oblivion. Castle Oblivion has no room for Kings, only this Queen!” She scolded herself. What was she thinking? Xigbar, the second in member of Organization 13? She couldn’t possibly like him, let along love him. No, not him, she was in love with the power he was going to give her. That’s right, the power did this to her.

Not realizing how wrong she was, she traveled to her destination, acting as if she had a reason to be there. She recieved a few looks from people wondering who she was, and a compliment on her dress from a lady or two. Otherwise, she ignored them and continued to the mansion. She slipped though the gate and into the castle, utilizing her ice powers to form the correct key to level all the tumblers. Entering the mansion, she wandered about until she found a girl. She was talking with a man bandaged in red from head to toe about the memories of Sora. She assumed Xigbar would know who that was seeing as he knew who the girl was.

It wasn’t long before Xigbar showed up behind her while she hid in the shadows. He wrapped one arm around her waist and a hand over her mouth. “Hey, Ice Doll.” He whispered in her ear. “Find anything?” He teased lightly then added, “We can go now.” He let her go and nodded her in the direction he took to get in. It was a hidden path he knew about to get back into the woods without disturbing the people here with his presence.  However, he knew they’d find it after this. DiZ was rather clairvoyant about who showed up in the manor, another reason why he sent Neme in. She was innocent looking compared to him.

Following Xigbar’s lead, they exited the mansion and returned to the back alley of Twilight Town. He opened a portal again, directly to Castle Oblivion and gestured for her to go first. Eyeing him a bit, she did as she was told. The rooms were cold like a freezer. It felt nice to her, comforting her with it’s cold embrace. She normally didn’t like warmth. She could tolerate it, but she was so use to the cold of ice, her body had changed to prefer the cold with a lower body temperature than a living human being. Xigbar entered and rubbed his arms within a second. Neme laughed as she looked at him.

“Like the cold, Xigbar?” She remarked sarcastically as she giggled and walked over to him. She watched him as he smirked at her.

“As If!” He replied.  

“Ow, fiery today.” She poked at him playfully.

Xigbar chuckled and closed in on her. The sorceress backed up, losing her sense of playfulness as soon as he neared. However, what replaced it was something she didn’t want. It was a feeling that left her eyes a darker blue hue. She couldn’t look away from his eye, almost losing herself in the amber color. Her hands locked together behind her to keep from acting on her current thoughts: to touch him.

He could see it in her face, every twitch, every change in color, and this was just a test. “What did you find, Ice Doll?” He asked, stopping her reaction in its tracks while reminding her heart what it was dealing with. And it amused him so to see her reaction.

She looked confused for a moment as she registered what he’d said. She had been so lost inside his eye color, she’d let her walls fall before him and was on her knees, a pawn on his chess board, his hand was in her chest gripping her heart and holding it still. It was only proof how far she’d fallen in such short time, all alone with nothing to distract her from  _him_. She composed herself in record time, stepping away from where he’d stopped and straightening herself.

“She said she was having a hard time gathering all the memories of Sora. The man in red with her said that the Nobody was working better than he thought.” She explained to him. “He just told her to do the best and they would work a plan to fix this, so Sora could wake up.”

Xigbar smiled at her and nodded, “Good girl.” He spoke and patted her head with a gloved hand. “See you later, Ice Doll.” He spoke as he opened a portal, “Duty calls.” With that, the man left her alone in her mind with what all happened replaying again and again.

_It was all a test. The reconnaissance was to test my obedience and ability to aid him in his kind of missions. He was testing how well I could blend in and ability to study what was around me. I passed for him. I did everything he wanted, and he knew, because he already knew this information. The organization knew from their side with Roxas and Xion that Naminé couldn’t get all of Sora memories. Inside the icy rooms he collected and returned me to, was nothing more than an experiment for him as he crawled around under my skin._


	4. I lost sight of what was in front of me. I was looking into the eyes of Someone.

_This relationship with me was nothing to him but a game while he stalled me in my progress towards domination of the castle and took me with him for recon and occasional combat. He never told me what they were looking for, but he wouldn’t waste any time making himself appealing to me, just to fuel his plan in the right direction: to use me and my powers. The darkness in my heart just needed to be fueled further than my selfishness would do. I knew better. All I wanted was the castle, but I was falling so hard from my throne. I wasn’t fit to be the Queen, and I didn’t want admit I was loving a man that said he couldn’t feel anything. I was seeing someone else in his eye while he played a game with my heart._

He visited her often, but not too often. He left her alone enough to have her sit in her mind and slip further into the darkness. Xemnas had called him to the round room for a report.

“Do you really think she’d be useful to us?” The superior asked.

Xigbar chuckled. “Give her a chance. Once she falls into darkness, her power will be ours. If we have her mimicry powers, then we can fight anyone with their own powers, let alone she’s got skill for freezing people even when they’re moving.”

“And you are the exception because of your own powers.” Xemnas replied as he relaxed back in his chair.

“She can’t catch someone who teleports.”  She hadn’t been able to catch him when he caused her to break something she was working on.

“You think making her heart fall for you will manifest her darkness?” Xemnas questioned.

“As if!” Xigbar snorted, “Her darkness grows as she grows angrier over the fact she wants me and with every taunt I send her way! It’s her very weakness that brings it about!” He laughed. “She’s like putty in my hands.”

Xigbar came to her with another job. However, he didn’t find her in the usual room she was in.  After walking about he found her solidified in ice against a door in her bedroom. His eyes caught sight of the window where the sky seemed to be lightening. He hummed quizzically as he looked up to her. Walking over, he reached out and touched it the ice. It was solid and cold. Inside, he could have said she was dead. He skin was a smooth white from head to toe, save for her blue lips and her hair being whiter than her skin. Her eyes were closed. She looked calm, beautiful even at peace in sleep.

Before he had a chance to register it, the ice cracked under his hand, then shattered in layers. He flinched at it, surprised the ice would respond in such a way. Was it his touch that did that? He didn’t know. As the last layer shattered and toppled to the ground, her body was released where she fell into Xigbar’s arms as he caught her. It was a perfect setup to continue his game.

“Hello, Princess.” He teased as he knelt down one knee, “Get your beauty sleep?” his tone was teasingly sarcastic with her.

She initially didn’t realize it was him. No, she was seeing someone else, a man with both brown eyes and slicked back black hair with a red scarf around his neck. He was warm and comfortable, making her heart beat a little faster. However, that image faded far too quickly into Xigbar’s face as she eyes adjusted to waking. They widened at the sight of Xigbar and realization that she was being held by him. The woman blushed bright red to her ears and squirmed out of his arms as quickly as she could.

“Let me go!” She cried.

“Aw, that isn’t very nice to say to the person who kept you from falling to the ground. Are you really just going to shut me down like that?” He taunted, acting as if he was hurt while he didn’t fight to keep her in his arms.

She hurried to her feet and backed away from him as he stood up. She looked confused at him. Her head was running around in circles. Why would he do that? Why did she feel so comfortable in his arms? Who was that she saw?

“What? No ‘hello’? No ‘thank you for catching me, Xigbar’?” He poked as he watched her grow more confused. He had to keep her on track.

“Why did you do that?” She questioned.

He chuckled, “I thought I’d help you not get hurt before taking you out for combat.” He spoke, jumping to the point of his visit.

She watched him as he opened a portal. “We’re going to a place called Agrabah. It’s a desert, so you’ll just have to bare the heat.”

As usual, she was lead through first. However, during combat missions, they tracked down the target together. This time it was an Inivisible. These enemies were a pain. They just didn’t give up, but with two instead of one, the process would be less painful. While Xigbar specialized in ranged shots, Neme focused on trying to keep the monster still enough for every arrow to hit its mark. She alternated with surrounding it with ice with an opening for Xigbar and solidifying it in ice. However, when it came too close to her, she would lash out at with her ice claws and slide along a rail of ice to put distance between her and it. In combat, they were quite a team and she rather enjoyed seeing how skilled he was as a marksman, though she denied it.

Even with two people it took a while, leaving them both undesirably hot. Even Neme’s ice didn’t do much to help because the sun was constantly beat down on them. Not wasting a beat, they returned to her living room as soon as possible. She was happy to feel the chill of the ice as she walked into and held her arms out, feeling her skin roll with goose bumps due to the temperature change. Xigbar felt a sense of relief from the cold and pulled his gloves off before placing them on a slab of ice she had designed for the arm of a chair. He gave out a sigh at the feeling against his hot skin. However, the heat from his skin began to melt the ice and soon she had his hands in hers.

“Hey, you’ll melt it!” She spoke as he noticed what she’d done.

He looked between their hands and her face, opening his mouth to say something. Instead, he was stopped by her forming ice over bother their hands as they were locked together. “Feel better?” She asked him and received a smirk. She was forgetting again, seeing someone else instead of him while he appeared to “feel”.

He leaned closer to her as he toyed with her with a low chuckle and complete eye contact. “Well, you’ve cooled me off, Ice Doll.”

For a fleeting moment, she thought she was looking to the eyes of the man she saw when she woke. Those brown eyes were alluring and drew he closer to him, feeling her heart with the desire to kiss him. Before she registered her actions, she’d kissed him, softly on the lips.

The woman jumped back from him, the ice covering their hands shattering to the floor like glass. She turned with an instant looking out a near by window. What had she done? She crossed one arm over her stomach and rested the other elbow on that arm while her fingers rested on her lips. Her blue eyes showed confusion, frustration, disappointment and longing all at the same time as they searched the outside darkness for an answer.

Xigbar laughed as he walked up to her and leaned close to her ear. “Forget something?” He started his taunt as he pulled his gloves back on, “I’m a nobody. I don’t feel anything, Princess.” He chuckled as he looked at her face.

Before he knew it, she’d swung around, her ice claws scraping against his face as she assumed one predominant emotion inside her. “Leave before you test me today!” She hissed.

He laughed as he stumbled back slightly, holding his face that now had three good claw marks on it just under his lost eye. “Whoa now, no need to get all angry.” He chuckled playing her emotions off on her. That’s when he felt it, the dark flower inside of her bloomed.

The familiar sound of an arrow clicking into a launching mechanism rang in his ears as he watched her wast no time at pulling his own weapon on him in ice. “I said, leave before you test me!” She repeated herself. “I’ll shoot you if you don’t and restrict me from my castle any longer!” She practically glowed with darkness and desire for power. It was glorious!

_His final taunt had finally broken me. I’d grown so angry at myself for loving him that I desired power to be stronger than it more than anything in the world. I’d finally snapped and bloomed like a rose for him letting the darkness fill my heart and nearly snuffing out all the light.  Only a small amount stayed, a light I didn’t even know about until I met a sleeping boy._

_That was the last time I saw Xigbar. He left me alone, gave me the Castle and more then enough time to sit on my throne and brood over my mistakes — my anger towards him, towards myself for allowing myself to love him— and manifest my darkness with the sense of power fueling it day and night. I assume, they left me in the castle as guardian of the room I was cocooned against. They must have realized something with its location now that they had Xigbar close to me._


	5. What I didn’t see soon enough was everything was for lie in the light of 1 heart.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Character Death!

_During my time as “ruler” of Castle Oblivion, I realized there was something strange about Xigbar and his actions. Something didn’t make sense. He’d told me about kingdom hearts and the organizations idea of collecting hearts to become somebodies again. I thought it was a bunch of hogwash myself. I didn’t believe getting a heart was as simple as filling kingdom hearts with hearts to bursting. No, I thought it was more complex and dependent on the person. It could have been possible they had to earn it back or be stimulated in some way that revived their heart._

_Xigbar hadn’t always acted emotionless. Going by the strict definition of a Nobody, he shouldn’t have felt anything, possibly temperature included. However, he laughed, he played games with me and enjoyed them, and he smiled at me. He showed too much expression for someone who didn’t have a heart. It didn’t make sense. I came to the conclusion that he had to have a heart. There was no other way, even as a nobody, he had a heart. It angered me to be lied to and used. However, what he’d done to me was nearly irreversible at the time. Anger fueled my darkness and this was no different. As my anger grew, my dark nature and power grew. Yet, it didn’t stand a chance against the curse already placed on me by the residual light of Aqua. She was the one who amped up my powers and clairvoyance in the first place and sealed me in ice every night. That was still very much a fighting force against my darkness._

_It wasn’t too long before I had visitors again. They woke me long before I was supposed to with a power I didn’t know could wake me. My darkness pushed me to fight them once they opened the door leading to the Chamber of Awakening, but I didn’t. Something about the heart of the serious boy compelled me to stop. I came to know him as Riku. Riku had challenged the darkness and overcame it himself. Yet, it was the sleeping boy’s heart that changed me, pushing the darkness from my heart._

_Upon realizing my fate and seeing the truth in all the lies given to me, I felt like I owed Ventus my life, the sleeping boy I’d been protecting without my knowledge. Xigbar hadn’t anticipated Ventus would turn me. He couldn’t have predicted it, but it wasn’t hard to see when he faced me in battle once more._

He had his gun aimed at Ventus, ready to let fly a fatal blow, when she stepped between them as the arrow was fired. She remembered seeing the shock on his face, then feeling pain in her chest as the arrow struck her straight and true.

She fell back to the ground with a thud, the curse on her body already responded to her situation as her body was encased in ice from her heart out. The ice shaped into the image of Aqua’s battle armor, another part of Aqua’s spell on her. Her heart glowed red and pulsed with the rhythm of a heart beat as she pushed herself up from the ground. She wasn’t going down with a fight and Aqua helped make sure of that with the spell.

Xigbar looked at her bewildered. He didn’t believe what was happening before him. “No… That’s impossible!” He spoke, “You’re not even supposed to be here!” He fired an arrow at her, but it just ricocheted off her armor. He fired another than another as she began to stalk him. Every arrow bounded off the thick ice. Panic began to set in as he backed away from her, and fired one lucky shot.

The arrow hit her face plate and knocked her head back, the ice busting open to reveal one closed eye. When she faced him once more, she looked dead inside until that eye opened and reveled she was still very much alive, though artificially. She held a hand out and closed her fist around the handle of a solid ice Keyblade mimicking Aqua’s.

“Hey, Ice Doll… Neme, It’s me Xigbar. Don’t you remember? I gave you all that power. You were ruler of Castle Oblivion. We don’t have to go this far.” His attempts to sway her were futile.

Not a word came from her mouth as she gripped the Keyblade tighter and bolted for him. Before she reached him, he teleported, however, her experience with him before gave her better insight on him even when he was sporadic. She could calculate where he’d most likely teleport to keep out of range of her. Thus, she gave chase until she left him with no other place to go, but behind her. Once he did that, she was on top of him as she spun on her heel. Keyblade above her head, she closed in on him knowing full well she would have to take him out now while she had the chance. She swung hard, striking him across the chest with power she never possessed, Aqua’s power. For a fleeting moment, she though she saw that nameless man again, the one with brown eyes and slick back hair. Her eyes widened in surprised, but she knew it was too late to stop, even for him. That man wasn’t really there, all that was left in him was Xehanort and that man was just a memory of his.

Xigbar hit the ground with a gasp from the blow to the chest and hard contact with the ground. He gasped for breath as he looked up to the woman he’d tore down to make her into a powerful body guard for them. He chuckled as he rested a hand on his chest over his heart.

“Are you really alive in there, Ice Doll?” He spoke rhetorically, laughing again before he cough harshly. His eye watched her as she stared at him rather emotionless and not saying a word. “As if, at least I’m taking you down with me.” He remarked with a smile on his face as she turned and walked away from him.

As he spoke, the impeding danger subsided as they won the battle against Xehanort. The epic battle was over and Kingdom Hearts was saved, and her power was no longer needed. She didn’t make it far from Xigbar before she dropped to her knees. Her friendS witness this and rushed to her side, Riku catching her before she face planted into the ground.

“Neme!” He turned her over in his arms. Her visible eye was still open, but heavy. She wasn’t going to last much longer. The ice that was keeping her alive was wasting away like the Keyblade, she dropped while she lost her strength.

Neme didn’t have the strength to say anything or do much as her head rolled to one side and the others hurriedly searched for something to save her from her deadly fate. Neme, herself, didn’t believe she would survive. She’d accepted her fate of possible losing her life when she protected Ventus. She could feel the end coming as she noticed the black dressed figure near by. It was Xigbar, and he was fading away in a flurry of black smoke. She tried to reach for him with a shaky hand as she remembered the look in his eye, the change in his emotion and the man she remembered seeing inside him. She knew everything was a lie, she could see through him now, the truth of what he’d done to her, yet she still saw that man. It was strange.

However, Neme didn’t had the time to ponder it as he faded away and her time dwindled to nothing. Her trembling hand never made it up but a few centimeters before it dropped to the ground again and her eyes closed, the glow in her chest dimming to nothing. She was gone… or so she thought.


	6. One day, I woke up. I was hoping for a miracle, perhaps.

Neme woke up to the sun peering though the window curtains. She sat up slowly, noticing a tightness around her chest. Looking down, she found she was bandaged tightly with gauze with extra padding around her heart. That was right, she’d been shot in the heart a few days ago based on the bandaging and the small dot of blood in the white bandaging and the slight pain she felt from moving.

Getting up, she was happy she was still dressed from the waist down, though in loose pants now. She found a shirt on a dresser top by the window and pulled it on. The material was thin and soft, comforting against her cold skin. Her eyes gazed out the window to the town she was in. It was Radiant Gardens. She’d been here before with Xigbar for recon on Sora’s movements once he woke up.

Xigbar. He was dead, he died with her that day, yet she wondered, what was the fate of the man she saw inside him? She never truly understood who he was, but she wondered if he was his heart. Was he the person Xigbar was before he was Xigbar?

“You’re lucky, you know?” She heard a cocky voice behind her. She thought it could have been Xigbar, but the voice wasn’t gruff enough for it. Turning, she found it to be Lea, the flaming redhead she’d come to know was a deserter of the Organization when he didn’t take to Xehanort’s heart.

“I know. I should be dead.” She spoke with cool acceptance that she shouldn’t be here, but she was very much living and breathing. “How did you—“

“Aqua reversed the spell before your heart left you.” He answered, “It was a shot in the dark, but you were in that slim chance to survive.”

Neme smiled. “I’m glad I was.” She spoke before she heard the voice of Sora.

“How are you talking to Lea? Is she awake?!” She could hear his excitement grow with every word before he was giving confirmation and screamed across their head quarters to the rest of her new friends. “Hey everyone! Neme’s awake!”

Within last than a minute full of running feet, they all grouped together in front of her room before pushing past Lea and hugging her against the dresser, all speaking words of happiness that she was awake. Neme laughed as she hugged them all back.

_I had been saved by the woman that had cursed me to begin with. I could live my life as a new woman, safe and sound once again. I thank her for that chance. However, something was on my mind since the day I woke up. I wielded a Keyblade in my final battle. Could it be possible I’d released him from his dark cell? Could it be possible he’d been released at all? I didn’t know, but something in my heart was hopeful for that man, whoever he was. Even if he did manipulate me to fall into the darkness, I thought if he was here, maybe I could show him something different from darkness. Maybe I could show him there something better. He’d buried himself deep in my heart as a little ball of light, hidden amongst the darkness._

_While I recovered from my injury, I often traveled down to the castle gardens to see the roses. They were my favorite. So intricate and filled with beauty in each petal. I would often make them in ice over and over until I had a bouquet and bring them back to my room, placing them in the sun where they would shine and glitter in the light until they melted away in the vase she put them in. However, every time I went to the garden I watched for that man I saw. I was waiting._

Neme had returned to the garden to make roses of ice. She’d run out and wanted to go like she always did. Lea had followed behind her not long after she left and found her looking up from her work a bit too often for a sound to be disturbing her. Walking over casually, he leaned against the back of the bench she sat at and hummed softly.

“Looking for something?” He asked, looking at her.

Neme looked at him as well and shrugged. She had confided in him and only him about the man buried in her heart. “I don’t know anymore. Still hoping for a miracle, perhaps?” She pondered aloud as she returned to her work on the petals of the rose.

“Do you really think he’d come back?” Lea questioned further.

“I don’t know.” She answered, “It’s likely, he won’t.” She had been at this for days now and never saw hide nor hair of the man. The sorceress, sighed and set the finished rose down on the bench. “Am I wasting my time? I thought if he came back I could show him something more, show him friendship possibly, but it could be i never had that power to free him and he wouldn’t want it. Is my hope misplaced?” She was confused with herself as she stood up.

Lea felt bad for her, but he believed it was all hopeless for her to look for Xigbar’s somebody. He was gone, they all saw him fade away into nothing. “Well, it isn’t much of a chance of the guy coming back at all, so it is a bit of a waste.” He spoke, “And he hurt you, Nem.” He added.

“I know, but I saw something different in the brown eyes I saw.” She sighed again before brushing the topic aside with a wave of her hand.

Lea and her began to head back to their head quarters, leaving the rose behind on the bench. She didn’t think a man named Braig would wander into the gardens that day and see her leave the rose behind. She didn’t think he’d pick it up and remember her from her work. She didn’t think, as she let Lea go ahead of her while she stopped to rest at the fountain and compose herself, he would come up to her.

She felt a tap on her shoulder and the words, “Forgetting something, Ice Doll?”

She whipped her head around upon hearing that nickname and found him. He was missing an eye and was scarred still, but he had brown eyes again. Her heart fluttered with surprised as she stared at him, wide eyed.

Braig chuckled. It was the same as Xigbar’s. There was no mistaking him. He’d come back to the land of light, released from the clutched of Xehanort. “The name is Braig, by the way.” He answered her silent question as he handed the ice rose back to her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading my work! I greatly appreciate it and hope you liked it!


End file.
